Trailer JD 3039R

[Musdalen]

Deere makes a weight bracket. Or you could use these: BOLT-ON TIEDOWNS

I was just looking at the weight bar. It's about 1 3/8 square steel. I could loop the chain over that, but it could slide sideways a bit. Thinking about that one some more though. There is a way to do this.

 

[WinterDeere]

I have at least 2 options. First, drive on forwards and put the bucket over the rail on the tongue. Second drive on backwards with the mower suspended from the FEL. The latter, I am 90% certain will work.

That's exactly what I do, as I have the same tractor (same chassis, 6 fewer horses) and the same size trailer. I have indeed transported my tractor with brush cutter, and getting the weight balanced was not impossible, but did probably take me a few tries of configuration to get it right. That was a few years back, and I've hauled it in enough other configurations now that I don't remember exactly what I did.

I can say I almost never use my brush cutter and FEL together, so I may have left the bucket or even entire FEL at home. In other cases, I've been known to drop the bucket way up at the front of the trailer, and then back the rest of the rig on after. Another option you already named is to put the brush cutter under the FEL, which especially if you're dropping the bucket up front, can be done pretty easily and safely.

All of this is kind of a PITA, as I think I already said in my first post in this thread, but it works perfectly fine and is the compromise you make for the convenience of towing a smaller trailer in tight spaces. Everything is a trade-off, and the right trailer for one guy is not always the right one for the next, even when hauling the same equipment, depending on frequency and variability of configurations.

Winter Deere. You are certainly right about the need for tiedown loops in the front. I wonder how JD transports them?

I was just looking at the weight bar. It's about 1 3/8 square steel. I could loop the chain over that, but it could slide sideways a bit. Thinking about that one some more though. There is a way to do this.

I have a handful of 2" heavy duty nylon strap loops, I think they came off a Bell Telephone truck and were used for pulling telephone poles. I loop one or two of them thru that front weight bar in a choker type configuration, and then hook my ratchet strap hooks onto those in a way they can never come undone (feed thru hook and double it back on itself). If you're tucking your brush cutter under the loader, I'd probably leave the bucket off (or parked up front on trailer), and then route these straps under the loader. That way, you can lower the loader onto them, which might keep it off the brush cutter without additional blocking.

I've complained a lot about Deere's lack of towing hooks on the front of these tractors, but I've been told nearly all brands are equally bad, on this point.

 

[alexpops]

I think per DOT, that technically, you should have chains attached at 4 corners, plus straps or chains on each implement. Idea being that if a chain let's go, you still have 3 holding the tractor (4-5 if you have the loader & bushhog strapped in).

 

[WinterDeere]

I think per DOT, that technically, you should have chains attached at 4 corners, plus straps or chains on each implement. Idea being that if a chain let's go, you still have 3 holding the tractor (4-5 if you have the loader & bushhog strapped in).

I'm not sure about this. Not my area of expertise, but I know I've seen many roll-backs hauling cars with only chains to the rear of the rollback, and a single winch cable on the front. I've also seen only straps on all four corners, when they use the over-the-tire things. I've even seen them run a pair of chains from frame to front, ease the winch back down onto the chains, then use only straps to the rear.

While not all laws are always enforced, with these rollbacks driving right thru town past law enforcement on a daily basis, I'd have to imagine this would be easy fine money for the police to exercise, if it were illegal.

 

[D&D]

I think per DOT, that technically, you should have chains attached at 4 corners, plus straps or chains on each implement. Idea being that if a chain let's go, you still have 3 holding the tractor (4-5 if you have the loader & bushhog strapped in).

Pretty sure if you read the rules;
a) not a commercial hauler
b) that’s for 10,000 # and above equipment loads

I do believe in a 4 point tie down and on smaller stuff, there are multiple ways to accomplish the task.

 

[D&D]

I'm not sure about this. Not my area of expertise, but I know I've seen many roll-backs hauling cars with only chains to the rear of the rollback, and a single winch cable on the front. I've also seen only straps on all four corners, when they use the over-the-tire things. I've even seen them run a pair of chains from frame to front, ease the winch back down onto the chains, then use only straps to the rear.

While not all laws are always enforced, with these rollbacks driving right thru town past law enforcement on a daily basis, I'd have to imagine this would be easy fine money for the police to exercise, if it were illegal.

Police usually aren’t as concerned with how a local tow is performed. Speed of clearing a scene and getting traffic flowing again are usually the higher priority.

 

[WinterDeere]

Police usually aren’t as concerned with how a local tow is performed. Speed of clearing a scene and getting traffic flowing again are usually the higher priority.

True. But my best friend drove a rollback for a local dealership network when we were in college, and they had a whole fleet of them moving cars around every night. At least around here, clearing accidents was only a fraction of their total car hauling volume, hauling cars from owner's homes or between dealers seemed to be much more of their total weekly hauling.

He used to crash at my house when he was on-call, because I lived much closer to his territory than he did. That meant I got to see or hear about a lot of what he was hauling.

 

[D&D]

True. But my best friend drove a rollback for a local dealership network when we were in college, and they had a whole fleet of them moving cars around every night. At least around here, clearing accidents was only a fraction of their total car hauling volume, hauling cars from owner's homes or between dealers seemed to be much more of their total weekly hauling.

He used to crash at my house when he was on-call, because I lived much closer to his territory than he did. That meant I got to see or hear about a lot of what he was hauling.

Sure, you gotta do what you gotta do. We sold our towing business in 2018. Different companies have different contracts. Motor clubs used to be a hot ticket for steady work, dealership dx’ing usually didn’t pay as well, being on the police call list was highest paying but isn’t exactly steady work. Accident calls usually billed the highest rates. If you got two at a time, hauling for auction sites paid pretty good too.

All of the ways you mentioned are technically ok, winch cable being the weakest and offering the most bounce. Bounce one off the truck/trailer and good luck getting insured again.

 

[Musdalen]

Those bolt on tie downs might be just the ticket.

I was told by the trailer dealer that 4 chains was the law, but not enforced on the small stuff hauled by civilians.

 

[BigBlue1]

RjCorazza and WinterDeere, thanks for the tips on the bathroom scale method. I'm ashamed that I did not think of it myself. A little 7th grade geometry and Intro Physics is pretty straight forward. These forums are really a heck of a resource.

I can run a chain through a shackle on the rear hitch, but I don't know how I'm going to grab on to the front. I'm sure I can figure that out eventually.

I use soft axle straps that loop around the front axle and then the chain hooks to their loops:

The axle straps look like this: